Norway
Latest Average Wage
+6.0% · 5 years
$73,462
Country Comparison
Norway vs United States
Compare average wages, long-term wage changes and eight consumer price categories using OECD data.
At a Glance
Norway
vs
United States
$73,4622025
Latest Average Wage
United States +18.4%
(vs Norway)
$86,9772025
+6.0%2025
5-Year Wage Change
Norway +3.8 pts
(vs United States)
+2.1%2025
+9.4%2025
10-Year Wage Change
United States +3.5 pts
(vs Norway)
+13.0%2025
902024
Overall Price Level
United States +10.0 index points
(vs Norway)
1002024
Wages are PPP-adjusted average annual wages; price levels use the United States reference of 100. Years shown are each country's latest reported observation.
How Wages Have Changed
Follow PPP-adjusted average annual wages in constant prices across both economies.
USD PPP, constant prices · missing years shown as gaps, never interpolated
United States
Latest Average Wage
+2.1% · 5 years
$86,977
Wage Milestones
Norway
10 Years Ago
$67,127 (2015)
Historical Peak
$73,462 (2025)
Latest Wage
$73,462 (2025)
United States
10 Years Ago
$76,999 (2015)
Historical Peak
$86,977 (2025)
Latest Wage
$86,977 (2025)
Compare Everyday Price Levels
See how eight consumer price categories compare with the United States reference value of 100.
United States = 100 · Differences shown in index points
Norway (NOR)United States (USA)
Overall
−10.0 index points
100
90vs100
Food
+13.0 index points
100
113vs100
Clothing
+5.0 index points
100
105vs100
Housing
−39.6 index points
100
60.4vs100
Health
−19.4 index points
100
80.6vs100
Transport
+26.0 index points
100
126vs100
Recreation
+19.0 index points
100
119vs100
Restaurants & Accommodation
+14.0 index points
100
114vs100
What Stands Out
01
Latest Wage Gap
United States' latest average wage is $86,977 for 2025, about 18.4% higher than Norway's $73,462 for 2025 — a percentage worked out directly from the two reported figures. In annual terms the gap comes to about $13,516 on the same PPP basis.
02
Stronger Recent Trend
On the latest one-year change, United States shows the stronger movement at +1.7%, against +1.6% for Norway. The five-year horizon reverses the ordering — Norway at +6.0% and United States at +2.1% — so the latest year is not the whole story. Both percentages are real, PPP-adjusted changes from the reported wage series.
03
Largest Price Gap
Housing shows the widest price gap of the comparable categories in 2024: 60.4 for Norway against 100 for United States. That is a separation of 39.6 index points on the US=100 scale, with United States on the higher side and Norway on the lower one. Index points are not percentages; the two scales answer different questions.
04
Closest Price Category
The closest category is Clothing: Norway reads 105 and United States 100 for 2024, just 5.0 index points apart on the US=100 scale. The next closest is Overall at 10.0 index points apart. Two readings this close mean the category sits at nearly the same point of the US=100 scale for both.
Understanding the Comparison
Wage Position
A clear separation shows in the latest wage figures — United States at $86,977 for 2025, and Norway at $73,462 for 2025. The higher figure exceeds the lower one by 18.4% in relative terms — a percentage calculated from the two reported values — or roughly $13,516 a year. Because both values already sit on the same USD PPP, constant-2025-price footing, the comparison adjusts for price-level differences between the two economies. For scale, neither series has moved by that much within any single reported year, so the gap is structural rather than the product of one unusual observation. Over ten years Norway recorded +9.4% and United States +13.0%, so the two series have been moving in the same long-term direction.
Wage Direction
The five-year direction is shared here: both series rise, with different momentum on each side. Norway sits at the highest point of its series — $73,462 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +9.4%. United States sits at the highest point of its series — $86,977 in 2025 is also the historical peak, with a ten-year change of +13.0%. The shared direction still leaves room for different speeds: +6.0% for Norway against +2.1% for United States, so the distance between the two levels keeps shifting. All changes here are measured in real, PPP-adjusted terms, so they describe purchasing-power movement rather than nominal pay increases.
Price Profile
Norway's overall consumer price level for 2024 reads 90, and United States' reads 100, each measured against the United States reference of 100. Neither country is uniformly higher: Norway leads in 5 of the 8 comparable categories and United States in 3, so the profile splits by category rather than by country. The widest separation is in Housing: 60.4 for Norway against 100 for United States, a gap of 39.6 index points. At the other end, Clothing brings the two closest — 105 versus 100, a gap of just 5.0 index points. Relative to the US benchmark, Norway reads above 100 in 5 of its 8 reported categories, and United States in 0 of its 8.
Wage and price data should not be combined into a verdict on which country is better to live in.
